Hi all, I'm about to replace my old MBP and as I travel a lot and fancy a treat, I'm planning on a MBA as the replacement.

My question is whether the 11" MBA is big enough for someone who does fair amount of word processing, film watching and web surfing. The benefits being that it's more compact (obviously) and I can load it up with more of the extras.

If the opinion is that I should definitely get the 13", I'll do so, but it may be the basic MBA.

Thanks for any advice!

11" is big enough for those requirements. Had both 2010 and 2011 13" air, switched to the 11" 2012 model last year and absolutely love it. Most fun and useable laptop I even had.

I find the Air much lighter and easier to carry around. Also I like the thin profile better. So thinner and lighter = more portable in my world!

well yeah, if you physically cant carry the extra weight of the pro then the air. if you can, then the pro and air are just as portable as each other.
however, the 11" will fit in smaller bags so it is actually more portable than the 13's

well yeah, if you physically cant carry the extra weight of the pro then the air. if you can, then the pro and air are just as portable as each other.
however, the 11" will fit in smaller bags so it is actually more portable than the 13's

Of course you can physically carry the extra weight. That is not the question. The question is which of the two is more portable, and the answer is the Air - the weight and the thinness makes it more portable. That is a fact.

The Air is a lot thinner and has a more comfortable design with its profile. On top of that the design is more appealing to many + it's just as fast as the regular 13" MBP - with a faster SSD and better resolution. That really makes it a no-brainer if you ask me